


" I QUIT!"

by StarWars1977



Category: Star Wars - Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 17:58:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5880346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarWars1977/pseuds/StarWars1977
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mounting pressures and responsibilities push Leia to her breaking point<br/>and she receives encouragement from an unlikely source.</p>
            </blockquote>





	" I QUIT!"

Princess Leia Organa, Senator of Alderaan sat motionless at her usual makeshift desk staring at the mound of papers and files which lay before her.  
Each bore the familiar red sticker indicating 'urgent' and 'needing immediate attention'. The woman sighed as she casually rifled through the papers.  
She knew by sight what each one was: reports, statistics, supply requisitions, pay vouchers, requests, financial statements, military orders, Alliance  
disbursements, acquisitions, clothing and equipment issues, maintenance.....the needs seemed endless. They all required her attention and decisions  
as one of the last Senators of Alderaan.

She rose from the desk and began to pace the room. Her mind was running in a dozen different directions and for the first time in her life, she  
felt incapable of sorting out the myriad of thoughts into some sort of organized order.

A sharp rap at the door interrupted her musings.

"Come in." She answered.

The door moved and an aide stuck his head into the room. "Princess Organa," he began, "The Commanders request your presence at once on a matter  
of state importance and Dr. Jameson would like to know when to expect those needed medical supplies."

That was the last straw! Leia snapped back to the aide, "Everybody expects me to know everything, to arrange...take care of everything. Well, I CAN'T."  
She yelled to the startled rebel as she headed for the door.

"But...but...your Highness, what will I tell the Commanders? They're expecting you."

'YOU go to the meeting." The Princess suggested, "I QUIT!" She rushed from the room and down the hall in a futile effort to escape her surroundings.  
Leia didn't realize her steps had carried her to the bay area until she was abruptly stopped by someone grabbing her arms.

"Hey.... where's a fired up bundle of energy like you going in such a hurry?"

Leia blinked out of her near daze. "Han?" She surveyed the cavernous bay.

"You alright, Princess?"

Leia's long practiced resolve took over. "Of course I am." The Corellian eyed her skeptically. That look made the young woman wilt emotionally and  
for once Leia felt a desperate need to unburden herself.

"NO, I am NOT alright." She said. "I quit!"

Han waited for her to explain further. "Quit what?" He questioned when she didn't continue.

"Everything!" She spat,waving an arm in the air for emphasis."The Alliance, the years of fighting, doing without, hopes...dreams." Her voice trailed  
off tiredly. "I give up."

Han couldn't believe he was hearing these words from the petite woman who stood before him. "You mean you're willing to turn your back on everyone who  
needs you...depends on you?" He questioned.

"That's exactly what I mean, Han. It's getting to be too much. The pressures, responsibilities, to fight so long and gain so little. To have dreams and hopes  
shattered over and over."

"I haven't known you very long, but you certainly don't seem to be one to fold up under pressure." Han stated.

"There just isn't any use to contine,." She began again. "The Alliance forces are so scattered, we don't have enough soldiers to effectively combat the Imperial  
forces. We don't have the weaponry or finances to combat their Death Stars. We're never settled for more that a few weeks in any one place before we have  
to leave. Each time we do, we have to leave vital pieces of equipment and try to replace them when we're reestablished." She eyed the Corellian, who was  
listening patiently. Then, the words seemed to spill forth. "Sometimes, I have to make the final decision on whether to buy food or medicine, if there isn't enough money for both. Do we feed the soldiers and crew or do we ease the pain and suffering of those sick and wounded?"/p>

Leia began to pace as she talked. "My homeworld is gone. There's no use continuing to fight. Other worlds will suffer the same fate and there will be nothing  
left to go back to. The Imperials are so poweerful, Vader so relentless. He even destroyed the one man my Faither assured could help our cause so much.. Obi-Wan." She stopped her pacing and sat down on a wooden crate.

"You can't give up like this." Han told her. "To turn your back on everyone so easily."/p>

"Why not?" Leia asked. She boldly eyed the space pirate. "It can be done with little or no searing of the conscience. You're living proof of that."

"What are you talking about?" Han asked.

"You left your family, friends, and even your home planet." Leia elaborated on what little Luke had told her.

Anger shot through Han. "I didn't desert them, Leia...they turned their backs on me!" He said it with such vehemence it startled her. "Look." Han calmed his voice  
with great emotional effort. "You have something worth fighting for...you can't give up on it."

"Why are you so concerned with the Alliance?" Leia asked. "When you came back it was only to help Luke destroy the Death Star."

Han knelt beside the Princess. "If people were the only motivation for my staying, then I never would have left my friends and family on Correll." He told her.

"That's quite a self-revealing statement." Leia responded. "Then you do have concern for the cause of the Rebellion?" Han eyed the Princess evenly.

"Yes." he admitted honestly, as much to himself as to her. "And when I get my debt squared with Jabba, I can become more active in that concern."p>/p>

Leia didn't know what to say.

Precisely at that moment, Luke burst into the area."Leia, Han..Imperial probes just found Yavin. The Commander's have given the order to evacuate."/> The young Jedi was off, spreading the word to other areas of the base.

Han looked at Leia. "What about it, Princess? Do you stay and surrender or run and fight?" She gazed at Han closely before speaking. if the cause  
of the Alliance could impress this Corellian pirate in the little time he had been associated with it enough to make him want to become a part of it,  
then surely she, who loved the freedom the reestablished Republic would bring, could continue the fight for that freedom.

Han waited, unmoving, for her answer.

"Come on, flyboy." She said, her voice strong with renewed determination. "We've got a base to evacuate."


End file.
